Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Hur Jin-ho Will Bring 'Heart-Fluttering' Romance

Actors Jung Woo-sung, left, and Gao Yuan-yuan in a scene fromHur Jin-ho's new film "A Good Rain Knows"

By Lee Hyo-wonStaff Reporter

Hur Jin-ho, the director known for films about fading romance, brings something brighter in “A Good Rain Knows,” coming to theaters in October.

“It’s the brightest, most cheerful and happy movie among all the movies I’ve made so far,” said Hur during a promotional event for the film Tuesday in Seoul.

The director is known for bringing together top South Korean actors in heartbreaking melodramas ― Han Seok-gyu and Shim Eun-ha in “Christmas in August” (1998), Lee Young-ae and Yu Ji-tae in “One Fine Spring Day”; Bae Yong-joon and Son Ye-jin in “April Snow”; and Hwang Jung-min and Lim Soo-jung in “Happiness.”

This time, he pairs up heartthrob Jung Woo-sung and Chinese actress/model Gao Yuan-yuan.

“If my past works were about a man and woman falling in love, living together happily and then breaking up, this story is about a couple who didn’t realize it was love the first time they met. They reunite and build a happy romance ― a movie that makes your heart flutter,” he said.

The 46-year-old, who married recently in 2007 and recently had his first child, was asked if his private life affected his work. “My six-month-year-old baby is so adorable and makes me marvel how such pleasure can exist in the world,” he said, but explained that he simply wanted to make a film that was light and positive.

“I believe that it’s crucial when and where a man and woman meet,” he said, suggesting that timing is everything.

The film is set in Qingdao, China and its title was inspired by a stanza in a poem by Tang Dynasty writer Dubo, “a good rain knows when to come.” Jung stars as a traveling architect who runs into a woman (Gao) he knew while studying abroad in the United States. The two realize that the friendship they shared back then had actually been love and rekindle the romance.

Timing was opportune, said Hur, in casting Jung, whom he had wanted to work with since his directorial debut. The two almost collaborated in “One Fine Spring Day” but was unable to because of scheduling conflicts.

Jung said he felt better prepared for Hur’s film this time. “Every time I received Director Hur’s script I doubted whether I could express such emotions that gently tide in like the ripple of still waters,” said the 36-year-old.

Meanwhile Gao said she had been a fan of Hur’s since the 1998 film “Christmas in August” and never missed his works in theaters. “When I got the offer I immediately accepted even though I hadn’t even read the script,” she said.

Jung said that working with Hur was a very “different experience” compared to his past projects. The star of “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” said that Hur “draws out invisible emotions from characters and puts a lot of thought into spatial relationships.”

“Everything took very long and I learned the charms of long takes,” he said.